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Federer beat Matosevic to progress to the semifinal of the Brisbane International. He will face Jeremy Chardy of France

It was another brilliant and comfortable display from Roger Federer as he cruised into the semifinals of the Brisbane International with a comfortable straight sets win 6-1, 6-1 over Marinko Matosevic of Australia. Here are the match stats:

Statistic for Roger’s Singles Victory over Marinko Matosevic in the Quarters of Brisbane

Federer started slowly, and was immediately down three break points. He saved all of them though, with good serving but largely due to Matosevic not being able to capitalize on his opportunities. This set the ball rolling for Federer as he gained in confidence and broke Matosevic in the very next game. He then held his next serve to 15 to take a 3-0 lead, hitting two beautiful kick serve aces along the way; the second one was one his second serve! He broke again and then held his own serve to take a 5-0 lead in the set. Matosevic fought back, however, and as he got on the board with an ace, he raised his hands to gather the appreciation of the humored crowd. There was no stopping Federer, however, as he comfortably held his next service game to take the set 6-1 in 27 minutes.

Matosevic started the second set better and held his first game without facing a break point. Federer also started well by holding his service game to make it 1-1. The third game of the second set was a particularly long one with four deuces, and Federer continued to prod away at his opponent’s serve; finally, it proved too much as Matosevic put an easily forehand volley wide to hand Federer the break and the initiative in the second set. Federer immediately consolidated the break to make it 3-1 in the second. He then broke his opponent again to make it 4-1 and by this time, the match was already won. A service hold to love made it 5-1 and another break meant Federer had won the second set 6-1 and was through to the final four.

The highlights of the game from Federer were the depth of his groundstrokes and the accuracy of his serves. He was hitting his backhand topspin groundstrokes very adeptly, and certainly, there was a bit more power in them. He also read his opponent’s serves well, and was frequently anticipating serves correctly. This is remarkable since this was his first encounter against Matosevic. Even though Matosevic’s attempted drop shots were nowhere near as accurate as they needed to be, Federer’s movement to chase these down both sideways on the court and up-and-down seemed excellent – a very optimistic sign for all his fans. A lot of things went right for Federer today, but he was helped by Matosevic’s poor display – he seemed physically tired after two gruelling three-setters against Benneteau and Querrey and hit way too many unforced errors to ever stand a chance.

Federer next faces World No. 34 Jeremy Chardy of France tomorrow. Strangely, the two have never met on the ATP circuit. Chardy won his Round 1 match against Adrian Mannarino in straight sets; he then won a very tightly contested three-setter against Nicolas Mahut in Round 2, and had a relatively comfortable time in the quarter-final earlier today when he disposed of wildcard Samuel Groth in straight sets. It will be an interesting contest, but first, Federer will play his doubles semi-final against Cabral and Farah tomorrow.

Federer and Mahut beat Chardy and Dimitrov to advance to the semifinals of the Brisbane International.

In a very tight affair, the duo of Roger Federer and Nicolas Mahut beat Jeremy Chardy and Grigor Dimitrov 11-9 in the tiebreaker, after the first two sets were also won on tiebreaks. In the entire match, only a single break was obtained by both teams, and it was an extremely tight affair in the tiebreak as well, with the match being anybody’s game uptil 9-9. Federer-Mahut held their nerve better, however, and won the match. Here are the match stats –

Statistics for Roger’s doubles victory in the Quarter Final of the Brisbane 250 Tournament

Roger explained his reason for playing doubles in Brisbane as getting matches under his belt, as that was of prime importance. It has worked out well so far – he’s playing a match everyday in conditions that are very similar to those that will be found in Melbourne, so the hours that he is putting in this tournament will go a long way in Australia. Add to that the confidence that comes with winning matches, and Roger’s start to the season simply could not have been better. He will next play Marinko Matosevic of Australia tomorrow, and will look to seal a semifinal spot.

You can catch the match highlights here:

By the way, I would like to applaud the work of the Web Development Team of the Brisbane International Tournament – they provide us with stats and highlights very quickly. Kudos, you’re doing great!

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Roger Federer won his first round match against Jarkko Nieminen in straight sets.

Roger Federer made a winning start to 2014 as he comfortably beat World No. 39 Jarkko Nieminen of Finland in straight sets, 6-2 6-4. Roger now has a 14 – 0 record over the Finn, and was comfortable throughout the match. Forehands were flowing off of his new larger racquet and his movement seemed as good as ever. These are ominous signs for the rest of the pack, as an in-form Federer is still the hardest player to play against. Here are the match statistics –

Statistics for Roger’s 1st Round victory over Nieminen

Excellent serving from Roger with 9 aces and no double faults, and a very decent 61% first serves in. He also won 79% of points on first serve and 64% points on his second serve, which was very good to see. The best statistic, however, is the break points – 100% saved and 75% converted. When you can bring your A-game on the break points, you usually win games, and that is what Federer did today – a brilliant way to start off the new year.

Federer plays doubles tomorrow when he pairs up with Nicolas Mahut against Jeremy Chardy of France and Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria. His next singles match will be the quarterfinal on Friday, when he plays World No. 55 Marinko Matosevic of Australia. The two have never met before, and Matosevic beat American Sam Querrey in three sets (5-7, 7-6, 6-4) to advance to the last eight. It will be an interesting match-up as Federer has always said that he likes playing against the hometown boys, and will be a test of Federer’s eye for gauging opponents. That being said, however, I fully expect Federer to come through this test in straight sets as he has too much variety and firepower to be troubled. This is especially true now that he has a solid straight-sets victory under his belt with his new racquet.

Roger Federer teamed up with Nicolas Mahut of France to beat the Number 1 seeds Jean-Julien Rojer of Netherlands and Horia Tecau of Romania 7-5, 7-6 at the first round of the doubles tournament at Brisbane. Here are the match statistics –

Statistics for Roger’s doubles victory in Round 1 of the Brisbane 250 Tournament

One cannot read too much into Federer’s form from a doubles’ match, but a win is a solid start to a new season. After the disappointment in 2013, getting matches under the belt is a priority for Roger, and any win is a morale-booster. Judging by what the Twitter-universe has to say, Federer seems to be in good touch, and his racquet is feeling like a friend. From the statistics, it seems like a tight match with the second set going to a tiebreak, and the first set being won by a single break. Federer-Mahut were down a break in the first set, but quickly recovered to beat the top seeded pair of Rojer-Tecau. Morale-boosting victory, indeed!

Federer starts his Singles tournament on Wednesday, when he will play World No. 39 Jarkko Nieminen of Finland. The Swiss boasts a 13 – 0 record over the Finn, and should face little problem in getting through the match. That being said, however, it will be interesting to see how his new racquet holds up in match conditions, and where his game level is at. Here’s wishing the best for Roger!